Russian history literature XIX century. Part 1. 1800-1830s Yury Vladimirovich Lebedev
Plyushkin and Chichikov.
Plyushkin and Chichikov.
In the gallery of landowners presented by Gogol to general shame and ridicule, there is one remarkable feature: in the replacement of one hero by another, a feeling of vulgarity grows, into the terrible mud of which modern Russian people plunge. But as the vulgarity thickens, reaching even in the surname of Sobakevich to an animal-like state, at the limit of its Russian “unrestraint” and “immensity”, in the hopelessly, it would seem, dead souls of the heroes, “skinny and thin” Bagration, the glorious hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, begins to peep through . In the depths of its fall, Russian life reveals some still unknown and undiscovered internal reserves, which, perhaps, will save it, give it the opportunity to enter the straight road.
Gogol says: “And in the world annals of mankind there are many whole centuries, which, it would seem, were crossed out and destroyed as unnecessary. Many errors have taken place in the world, which it would seem that even a child would not do now. What crooked, deaf, narrow, impassable, drifting roads humanity has chosen, striving to reach eternal truth, while the whole straight path was open before it, similar to the path leading to the magnificent temple appointed by the king to the palaces. It is wider and more luxurious than all other paths, illuminated by the sun and illuminated by lights all night, but people flowed past it in the dead darkness. And how many times already induced by the Meaning descending from heaven, they knew how to stagger back and stray to the side, knew how in broad daylight to fall again into impenetrable backwoods, knew how to cast a blind fog into each other’s eyes again and, dragging after the marsh lights, knew how to still get to the abyss, so that later with horror to ask each other: where is the way out? where is the road?
The direct path that Rus-troika will sooner or later take is obvious and clear to Gogol. Nineteen centuries ago it was given to mankind through the mouth of its Savior: "I am the way, the truth and the life." Gogol's Russia, casting a blind fog into its eyes, has rushed along the false path of self-interest and mercenaryism and is moving along it to the very edge of the abyss. But with the whole content of the poem, Gogol shows that the blind have not yet gone completely blind, that in the “rawed” souls of manils, boxes, nostrils, dogs, not everything is lost, that they have resources for the coming insight and access to the “straight paths”.
These resources are indicated by last meeting Chichikov with Plyushkin, symbolizing the limit, the final degree of falling on the path chosen by Chichikov. It is no coincidence that the meeting with Plyushkin is preceded by the discourses of the author and the hero standing behind him about youth with its purity and freshness. These arguments will be summed up by the author after Chichikov’s communication with Plyushkin as follows: “And a person could descend to such insignificance, pettiness, muck! could have changed! And does it look like it's true? Everything seems to be true, everything can happen to a person. The current fiery young man would jump back in horror if they showed him his own portrait in old age. Take it with you on the road, leaving the soft youthful years into severe hardening courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not raise them later!
Trying to show the terrible distortion of Russian life from the righteous and straight to the sly path, Gogol begins the story of Plyushkin with the hero's background. If earlier the “ready-made” Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich appeared before the readers as established characters, then Gogol gives the character of Plyushkin in development. There was a time when he appeared to be a "thrifty master" and good family man, and the neighbors went to him "to listen and learn from him housekeeping and wise stinginess." “But the good mistress died; part of the keys, and with them minor worries, passed to him. Plyushkin became more restless and, like all widowers, more suspicious ... In the owner, stinginess began to be more noticeable ... "
And so every year “windows pretended to be” in his house and in his soul, “more and more the main parts of the economy went out of sight”, “this is a demon, not a man,” said the buyers who left his estate, “hay and bread rot, stacks and stacks turned into clean manure, ”and Plyushkin year by year more and more fell into slavery to useless and no longer needed“ household trifles ”:“ ... He walked every day through the streets of his village, looked under the bridges, under the crossbeams and everything that came across to him: an old sole, a woman's rag, an iron nail, a clay shard - he dragged everything to himself and put it in the pile that Chichikov noticed in the corner of the room. “There is already a fisherman going hunting!” - the men said when they saw him going to prey.
In the character of Plyushkin, Gogol sees the underside of another vice, much more common in Rus', “where everything likes to turn around rather than shrink, and it is all the more striking that right there in the neighborhood a landowner will turn up, reveling in the full breadth of Russian prowess and nobility, burning through, as they say, through life ... ". The lawlessness of Nozdrev's burning of life at one pole corresponds to the lawlessness of Plyushkin's stinginess at the other.
The more tragic appears in the abyss of the fall, lit up in the dark depths of the soul that has turned into dust, a living and quivering flame of hope for salvation. When Chichikov draws Plyushkin's attention to his former acquaintances, the memory of his lost youth and youth suddenly flares up in his soul: “Ah, father! How not to have, I have! he cried. - After all, the chairman himself is familiar, he even went to me in the old days, how not to know! they were odnokorytnikov, they climbed fences together! how unfamiliar? so familiar!”... And on this wooden face a warm ray suddenly glided, not a feeling was expressed, but some kind of pale reflection of a feeling, a phenomenon similar to unexpected appearance on the surface of the waters of a drowning man, who made a joyful cry in the crowd that surrounded the shore.
Communication with Plyushkin, despite the unprecedented success in the purchase of " dead souls”, causes Chichikov to feel a sense of horror and a deep inner shudder. In the person of Plyushkin, the logical end of the path opens up, on which all the energy of the “entrepreneur and owner” is directed. As conceived by Gogol, the gallery of landowners illuminates with different parties those "deviations" and "extremes" that are characteristic of Chichikov's character, which prepare the reader for the most accurate and comprehensive understanding of a new phenomenon in Russian life of that time - the emerging bourgeois. Everything in the poem is aimed at a detailed image of Chichikov and "Chichikovshchina" as the final limit, to which Russian life rushed along the "crooked" path.
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Plushkin's image First of all, dilapidation and devastation are striking on the Plyushkin estate. According to Gogol's description, Plyushkin's estate takes on an ominous character, goosebumps involuntarily run down the back. When I read chapter 6, I had the feeling that some kind of disaster had happened at Plyushkin's estate. Desolation, the spirit of death is emphasized by Gogol, and about Plyushkin's room: "It was impossible to say that a living being lived in this room ...". The picture of the “extinct place” is completed by the “castle-giant”, hanging on the main gate, usually “tightly locked”. What can be said about the Landowner Plyushkin? To begin with, even Chichikov, who was a good psychologist, could not distinguish the gender of "some figure", which turned out to be Plyushkin. Plyushkin's story is very sad. “But there was a time when he was a thrifty owner! He was married and a family man, ”the author begins the story of Plyushkin with these words. “Everything flowed lively and took place at a measured pace.” But due to the death of the mistress, Plyushkin became meaner, more suspicious. And so, gradually, relatives and relatives left his house for various reasons. “Lonely life has given nourishing food for stinginess, which, as you know, has a wolfish hunger and the more it devours, the more insatiable it becomes. All good feelings Plushkin were replaced by stinginess, devastation and suspicion. Because of his constant petty theft from his own subjects, almost all the peasants turned their backs on him. Plyushkin had food reserves for more than 2 of his estate, but he kept them under lock and key anyway. All these food supplies have rotted. Even when Chichikov, according to Plyushkin, Practical gives him money just like that, and for the big stingy Plyushkin this should be just a sensation of happiness, he cannot even rejoice well. There was no joy on his face, just a gleam. This shows us Plyushkin's "Dead Soul", because even the tongue does not dare to call it alive.
The image of Chichikov
Each chapter expands our understanding of Chichikov’s capabilities and leads to the idea of his amazing variability: with Manilov he is cloyingly kind, with Korobochka he is petty, persistent and rude, with Nozdryov he is assertive and cowardly, with Sobakevich he bargains cunningly and relentlessly, Plyushkin conquers with his "generosity". In Chichikov's character there is Manilov's love for the phrase, for the "noble" gesture, and the petty stinginess of Korobochka, and the narcissism of Nozdryov, and the rude stinginess, the cold cynicism of Sobakevich, and the hoarding of Plyushkin. It is easy for Chichikov to be a mirror of any of these interlocutors, because he has all the qualities that form the basis of their characters. And this "versatility" of Chichikov, his kinship with the "dead souls of the landowners" makes it possible to make him the main character of the poem. The characterization of Chichikov is given by the author in the first chapter. His portrait is given very vaguely: “not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but it is not so that he is too young either. Gogol pays more attention to his manners: he made an excellent impression on all the guests at the governor's party, showed himself to be an experienced socialite, keeping up the conversation on a variety of topics, skillfully flattered the governor, police chief, officials and made the most flattering opinion about himself. Gogol himself tells us that he did not take a “virtuous person” as a hero, he immediately stipulates that his hero is a scoundrel. "Dark and modest is the origin of our hero." The author tells us that his parents were nobles, but pillar or personal - God knows. Chichikov's face did not resemble his parents. As a child, he had no friend or comrade. His father was ill, and the windows of the little “gorenkoka” did not open either in winter or summer. Gogol says about Chichikov: “At the beginning, life looked at him somehow sourly and uncomfortably, through some kind of muddy, snow-covered window ...” “But in life everything changes quickly and vividly ...” Father brought Pavel to the city and instructed him to go to classes. Of the money that his father gave him, he did not spend a penny, but rather made an increment to them. He learned to speculate from childhood. After leaving the school, he immediately set to work and service. With the help of speculation, he was able to get a promotion from the boss. After the arrival of a new boss, Chichikov moved to another city and began to serve at the customs, which was his dream. “From the instructions he got, by the way, one thing: to petition for the placement of several hundred peasants in the board of trustees.” And then the idea came to his mind to turn one little business, which is discussed in the poem.
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The image of Plyushkin from Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is described in an unusual manner for the author - basically, Gogol widely uses elements of humor to characterize his heroes. For Plyushkin, there was no humor left - a realistic description of the stingy landowner and the consequences of his activities - that's what Nikolai Vasilyevich offers.
The symbolism of the surname
Gogol did not neglect symbolism in his works. Very often the names and surnames of the heroes of his works are symbolic. With the help of opposition to the characteristics of the hero or synonymy, they contribute to the disclosure of certain characteristics of the character.
Basically, the disclosure of symbolism does not require certain knowledge - the answer always lies on the surface. The same trend is observed in the case of Plyushkin.
The word "plyushkin" means a person who is distinguished by extraordinary stinginess and greed. The purpose of his life becomes the accumulation of a certain state (both in the form of finance, and in the form of products or raw materials) without a specific goal.
In other words, he saves in order to save. The accumulated good, as a rule, does not come true anywhere and is used with minimal expense.
This designation is fully consistent with the description of Plushkin.
Appearance and condition of the costume
Plyushkin is endowed with effeminate features in the poem. He has an elongated and unnecessarily thin face. Plyushkin did not have distinctive facial features. Nikolai Vasilievich claims that his face was not much different from the faces of other old people with emaciated faces.
A distinctive feature of Plyushkin's appearance was an exorbitantly long chin. The landowner had to cover him with a handkerchief so as not to spit. The image was complemented by small eyes. They had not yet lost their liveliness and looked like small animals. Plyushkin never shaved, his overgrown beard did not look the most attractive way and resembled a comb for horses.
Plyushkin had not a single tooth.
Plushkin's costume wants to look better. To be honest, it’s impossible to call his clothes a suit - they look so worn and strange that they resemble the rags of a tramp. Usually Plyushkin is dressed in an incomprehensible dress, similar to a woman's hood. His hat was also borrowed from the women's wardrobe - it was a classic cap of yard women.
The costume was in terrible condition. When Chichikov saw Plyushkin for the first time, he could not determine his gender for a long time - Plyushkin, in his behavior and appearance, was very reminiscent of a housekeeper. After the identity of the strange housekeeper was established, Chichikov came to the conclusion that Plyushkin did not look like a landowner at all - if he were near the church, he could easily be mistaken for a beggar.
Plushkin's family and his past
Plyushkin was not always such a person when he was young, his appearance and character were absolutely different from the current ones.
A few years ago Plyushkin was not alone. He was a man who was quite happily married. His wife definitely had a positive influence on the landowner. After the birth of the children, Plyushkin's life also pleasantly changed, but this did not last long - soon his wife died, leaving Plyushkin three children - two girls and a boy.
Plyushkin hardly survived the loss of his wife, it was difficult for him to cope with the blues, so he moved more and more away from his usual rhythm of life.
We offer you to get acquainted with the image of Chichikov in Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's poem "Dead Souls".
A picky and quarrelsome character contributed to the final discord - the eldest daughter and son left their father's house without the blessing of their father. Youngest daughter died some time later. The eldest daughter, despite the difficult nature of her father, tries to maintain relations with him and even brings him children to visit. I lost contact with my son a long time ago. How his fate turned out and whether he is alive - the old man does not know.
Personality characteristic
Plushkin is a man difficult nature. It is likely that certain inclinations for the development of certain qualities were laid in him earlier, but under the influence family life and personal well-being, they did not acquire such a characteristic appearance.
Plyushkin was seized with anxiety - his concern and anxiety had long passed an acceptable measure and became a certain obsessive thought. After the death of his wife and daughter, he finally became callous in soul - the concepts of sympathy and love for others are alien to him.
This trend is observed not only in relation to strangers in the related plan of people, but also to the closest relatives.
The landowner leads a solitary life, he hardly communicates with his neighbors, he has no friends. Plyushkin likes to spend time alone, he is attracted by the ascetic way of life, the arrival of guests is associated with something unpleasant for him. He does not understand why people visit each other and considers it a waste of time - many useful things can be done during this time period.
It is impossible to find those who want to make friends with Plyushkin - everyone eschews the eccentric old man.
Plyushkin lives without a definite purpose in life. Due to his stinginess and pettiness, he was able to accumulate significant capital, but he does not plan to somehow use the accumulated money and raw materials - Plyushkin likes the accumulation process itself.
Despite significant financial reserves, Plyushkin lives very poorly - he is sorry to spend money not only on his relatives and friends, but also on himself - his clothes have long turned into rags, the house is leaky, but Plyushkin sees no point in improving something - his and so everything suits.
Plyushkin loves to complain and show off. It seems to him that he has only little - and he does not have enough food, and there is too little land, and even an extra tuft of hay cannot be found on the farm. In fact, everything is different - its food supplies are so large that they become unusable right in storage.
The second thing in life that brings pleasure in Plyushkin's life is quarrels and scandals - he is always dissatisfied with something and likes to express his dissatisfaction in the most unattractive form. Plyushkin is too picky person, it is impossible to please him.
Plyushkin himself does not notice his shortcomings, he believes that in fact everyone treats him with prejudice and cannot appreciate his kindness and care.
Plushkin's estate
No matter how Plyushkin complained about his employment with the estate, it is worth recognizing that as a landowner Plyushkin was not the best and most talented.
His large estate not much different from an abandoned place. The gates and the fence along the garden were utterly worn out - in some places the fence collapsed, and no one was in a hurry to close up the holes that had formed.
On the territory of his village there used to be two churches, but now they are in disrepair.
Plyushkin's house is in a terrible state - probably it has not been repaired for many years. From the street, the house looks like a non-residential one - the windows in the estate were boarded up, only a few were opened. In some places, mold appeared, the tree was overgrown with moss.
Inside the house does not look better - the house is always dark and cold. The only room in which natural light penetrates is Plyushkin's room.
The whole house is like a garbage dump - Plyushkin never throws anything away. He thinks that these things can still be useful to him.
Plyushkin's office is also in chaos and disorder. Here is a broken chair that can no longer be repaired, a clock that does not work. In the corner of the room is a dump - what lies in a pile is difficult to make out. From the general heap stands out the sole from old shoes and a broken shovel handle.
It seems that the rooms were never cleaned - there was cobwebs and dust everywhere. Plyushkin's desk was also out of order - there were papers mixed with rubbish.
Attitude towards serfs
Plyushkin owns big number serfs - about 1000 people. Of course, caring for and correcting the work of so many people require certain strengths and skills. However, there is no need to talk about the positive achievements of Plyushkin's activities.
Plyushkin treats his peasants uncomfortably and cruelly. They differ little in appearance from their master - their clothes are torn, their houses are dilapidated, and the people themselves are immensely thin and hungry. From time to time, one of Plyushkin's serfs decides to escape, because the life of a fugitive becomes more attractive than that of Plyushkin's serf. Plyushkin sells about 200 "dead souls" to Chichikov - this is the number of people who died and serfs who fled from him in a few years. Compared with " dead souls The rest of the landlords, the number of peasants sold to Chichikov looks terrifying.
We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the characteristics of Akaky Akakievich in the story of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol "The Overcoat".
Peasant houses look even worse than the estate of the landowner. In the village it is impossible to find a single house with a whole roof - rain and snow freely penetrate into the dwelling. There are no windows in the houses either - the holes in the windows are patched up with rags or old clothes.
Plyushkin speaks extremely disapprovingly of his serfs - in his eyes they are lazy and loafers, but in fact this is slander - Plyushkin's serfs work hard and honestly. They sow grain, grind flour, dry fish, make fabrics, make various household items from wood, in particular dishes.
According to Plyushkin, his serfs are the most thieving and inept - they do everything somehow, without zeal, besides, they constantly rob their master. In fact, everything is not so: Plyushkin so intimidated his peasants that they are ready to die of cold and hunger, but they will not take anything from their landowner's warehouse.
Thus, in the image of Plyushkin, the qualities of a greedy and stingy person were embodied. Plyushkin is not capable of feeling affection for people, or at least sympathy - he is hostile to absolutely everyone. He considers himself a good owner, but in fact this is self-deception. Plyushkin does not care about his serfs, he starves them, undeservedly accuses them of theft and laziness.
Characteristics of Plyushkin in the poem "Dead Souls": description of appearance and character
4.6 (91.58%) 19 votesStarting work on the poem "Dead Souls", Gogol set himself the goal of "showing at least one side of all Rus'." The poem is built on the basis of a plot about the adventures of Chichikov, an official who buys up "dead souls". Such a composition allowed the author to talk about different landowners and their villages, which Chichikov visits in order to make his deal. The face of landlord Russia is presented in five chapters, each of which is dedicated to one landowner. The chapter on Plyushkin closes this series.
According to Gogol, heroes follow us, "one more vulgar than the other." It is known that Gogol had a plan, which remained unfulfilled, to write a poem in three parts, like " Divine Comedy» Dante, where the first part is "Hell". Then it turns out that the first and only completed volume of this three-part poem has similarities with Dante's Inferno, and the same sequence of showing the characters should be observed in it: the further they go, the worse they become. According to this logic, it turns out that of all the landowners, Plyushkin, who is drawn last, should be the most terrible, his soul should have completely died.
The author's characterization of Plyushkin - "a hole in humanity" - seems to confirm this conjecture. But there is evidence that of all the heroes of the first volume, Gogol wanted to lead through purification to the rebirth of the soul in the third volume, only two - Chichikov and Plyushkin. This means that the author's position is far from being as straightforward as it might seem at first glance.
This is noticeable already by the way the estate of this landowner, the richest in the whole province, is depicted. On the one hand, this description respects the principle general characteristics Plyushkin: he is a “hoarder” and a “squanderer” at the same time, because, completely absorbed in his stinginess and thirst for money-grubbing, he has lost the idea of real position of things. As a result, he cannot distinguish the important and necessary from the trifles, the useful from the unimportant. So a rich crop rots in his barns, while all rubbish is stored in a heap, carefully guarded by the owner. There is a lot of good, but not only the peasants live from hand to mouth, but the landowner himself.
And we see the same thing in the description of "a vast village with many huts and streets", but at the same time, in all the village buildings, Chichikov noticed "some special dilapidation." Huge as a castle, the manor's house looked like "some kind of decrepit invalid." On the other hand, the “old, vast garden stretching behind the house”, which also combines the features of its former grandeur and terrible neglect, produces a different impression: it turns out to be beautiful even in its “picture devastation”. Why, then, is nature able to preserve its “soul”, while a person, captured by the power of things, must “dead” forever? Perhaps there is hope even for the one who has become a "hole in humanity"? It seems to me that it is the meeting with Chichikov that helps to see in Plyushkin something that gives some hope for the revival of his dead soul.
There is one more feature of the chapter devoted to Plyushkin, which distinguishes it from other chapters on landowners: only here is a detailed biography of the hero given. Why does the author deviate from the plan adopted by him in other chapters?
On the one hand, if in all other landlords it was precisely their typicality that was emphasized, then in Plyushkin the author sees not only a phenomenon characteristic of landlord Russia, but a kind of exception. Even Chichikov, who had seen "a lot of all sorts of people," had "not yet seen" such a thing, and even in author's description Plyushkin said that "such a phenomenon rarely comes across in Rus'." Therefore, the nature of this landowner requires special explanations.
The state in which Chichikov finds him is indeed terrifying. Drawing a portrait of Plyushkin, the author exaggerates to the limit: Chichikov could not even "recognize what gender the figure was: a woman or a man," and decided, in the end, that he was in front of a housekeeper. But, perhaps, even the housekeeper will not put on the rags that Plyushkin wears: on his dressing gown, “the sleeves and upper floors were so greasy that they looked like yuft, which goes on boots.”
But in the portrait of Plyushkin, for all its ugliness, there is one detail that, if not in contrast with everything else, then, in any case, is somewhat alarming: these are the eyes. On the thin, raw face of an old man with a protruding chin, "the little eyes had not yet gone out and were running from under high-growing eyebrows like mice ...". What follows is the extremely overgrown second part of the comparison - the description of mice - which almost completely obscures what is being compared - that is, the eyes. But, nevertheless, no matter what is reflected in these "eyes", constantly looking for where something is bad, but they are "not yet extinguished", and as you know, the eyes are the mirror of the soul. But is there any manifestation of this “not yet extinct” soul in the further description of the meeting between Chichikov and Plyushkin?
The reader is already well aware that Chichikov is driven by a purely mercenary interest: Plyushkin, the owner of more than a thousand peasants, must certainly have many "dead souls." Our hero has already guessed this, having got acquainted with his estate and house. Indeed, there are up to one hundred and twenty of them! The stinginess of the owner and illness did their job.
Chichikov cannot hide his joy, but, having correctly assessed with whom he is dealing, he immediately finds a way, without explaining the reasons for his interest in "dead souls", to persuade the owner to make a bill of sale. After all, before the new census, it was necessary to pay tax for the dead peasants, as for the living. Of course, for the miser Plyushkin, this is a terrible burden. And so Chichikov "without any ado, immediately expressed his readiness to assume the obligation to pay taxes for all the peasants who died in such accidents."
Even Plyushkin is surprised by such a proposal: is anyone really ready to take a clear loss? But Chichikov reassures him by doing this "for the pleasure" of Plyushkin, and completely conquers the incredulous old man when he says that he is "ready to accept even the costs of the bill of sale at his own expense." There is no end to Plyushkin's joy: “Ah, father! Ah, my benefactor!" - exclaims the touched old man. He, who has long forgotten what kindness and generosity is, already wishes "all sorts of consolations not only for him, but even for his children." His "wooden face" suddenly lit up with a completely human feeling - joy, however, "instantly and passed away, as if it had never happened at all." But this is already enough to understand that something human still remains in him.
And we see further confirmation of this. Plyushkin, who literally starved everyone in his village and home, is even ready to be generous to treat a guest! In Plyushkin style, of course: Chichikov was offered a “rusk from Easter cake” and a “glorious liquor” from a “decanter that was covered in dust, like in a sweatshirt”, and even with “goats and all sorts of rubbish” inside. The guest prudently refused the treat, which further endeared Plyushkin to himself.
And after Chichikov's departure, the old man even thinks about "how to thank him for the guest," and decides to bequeath his pocket watch to him. It turns out - and the feeling of gratitude is still alive in this crippled human soul! What was needed for this? Yes, in fact, very little: a little attention, albeit not selfish, participation, support.
And the awakening of Plyushkin's soul is noticeable when he remembers his youth. Chichikov asks Plyushkin to name some acquaintance in the city in order to make a bill of sale. And then the old man remembers that of his past friends, only one is still alive - the chairman of the chamber, with whom they were friends at school. “And on this wooden face a warm ray suddenly glided, it was not a feeling that escaped, but some kind of pale reflection of a feeling,” and, like the previous time, “Plyushkin’s face, following the feeling that instantly glided over it, became even more insensitive and vulgar. ".
But it can be assumed that if some normal human feelings and are now preserved in Plyushkino, which means they were in it before. So what happened to this person? The answer to this question should be given by his biography.
It turns out that Plyushkin was not always like this. Once upon a time he was just a thrifty and economical owner and good father, but the loneliness that suddenly set in after the death of his wife aggravated his already somewhat stingy character. Then the children parted, friends died, and stinginess, which became an all-consuming passion, took complete control over him. It led to the fact that Plyushkin generally ceased to feel the need to communicate with people, which led to a break in family relations, unwillingness to see guests. Even Plyushkin began to perceive his children as embezzlers of property, not experiencing any joy when meeting with them. In the end, he ends up all alone.
Who is responsible for all the troubles that happened to this person? Himself - of course! But Gogol sees something else in Plyushkin's history. It is not for nothing that this chapter contains a lyrical digression about youth with its freshness and liveliness of perception of everything around, which is replaced by maturity, which brings indifference and cooling to life. "What would awaken in former years live movement in the face, laughter and incessant speeches, it now slips by, and my motionless lips keep an indifferent silence. So, maybe what happened to Plyushkin is not an exception at all? Maybe that's the logic human life?
“And a person could descend to such insignificance, pettiness, disgust! Could change like that!” exclaims the writer, finishing the chapter on Plyushkin. And he gives a merciless answer: "Everything looks like the truth, everything can happen to a person." This means that the story of Plyushkin is not only not an exception for the landlord Russia of the 19th century, but it can be repeated at another time in other conditions.
How can you keep your soul alive? How to heal the sick, dead? Surprisingly, it is precisely in the chapter on Plyushkin that such an answer is partly given: we must not allow "human movements" to be lost while walking along the path of life. "Don't pick it up later!" Gogol warns us. But if a person stumbled, got off the right way, then only living human participation, compassion and help can save him. And this conclusion, which completes the story not only about the Russian landowner, but also about “inhuman old age”, which “gives nothing back”, will remain relevant for everyone and for all time.
The poem "Dead Souls" reflects social phenomena and the conflicts that characterized Russian life in the 1930s and early 1940s. 19th century It very correctly noticed and described the way of life and customs of that time. Drawing images of the landlords: Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich and Plyushkin, the author recreated a generalized picture of the life of serf Russia, where arbitrariness reigned, the economy was in decline, and the personality was undergoing moral degradation, and regardless of whether she was the personality of a slave owner or a slave.
The visit to the landowner Plyushkin begins with a description of the village and the estate. Any house bears the imprint of the personality of its owner. N.V. Gogol brought this feature to the limit in Dead Souls, and the similarity became almost grotesque, so that it turned out, as it were, double portraits of the heroes of the poem. Chichikov, in his travels and troubles, visits potential sellers of dead souls, and each noble estate accurately reflects the character of the owner.
On all the buildings, Chichikov noticed "some special dilapidation." All the houses in the village were as if tattered, there was no glass in the windows, even the church was “stained, cracked”. The master's house also looked disabled: peeling plaster, boarded up windows. All this situation spoke of the hopeless fate of the inhabitants. And the fact that the general decline was not due to the profligacy of its owner, but was the result of painful avarice, speaks of the complete disintegration of the personality. Against the backdrop of a miserable village, a strange figure appeared before Chichikov: either a man or a woman, in "an indefinite dress, similar to a woman's hood", so torn, oily and worn out that "if Chichikov had met him so dressed up somewhere at the church door, he would probably give him a copper penny. Meanwhile, he kept huge stocks in the barns, the dryers were cluttered with a multitude of canvases, cloths, sheepskins, utensils that had never been used were kept in the working yard, and he had more serfs than other landowners of the county. The whole life of this man came down to one thing: to drag everything to himself, to save, to rob the peasants. Plyushkin's senseless thirst for hoarding has been brought to the point of absurdity. He constantly steals from the peasants, collects all sorts of rubbish, replenishing the pile in the corner of the house. The passion of acquisitiveness led to the fact that he lost a real idea of \u200b\u200bobjects, ceased to distinguish useful things from unnecessary rubbish. His people are "dying like flies", dozens are on the run. He considers the peasants to be parasites and thieves, he hates them and sees in them beings of a lower order.
“Our fisherman has gone hunting,” the men say about him. This metaphor has a deep meaning - "catching the souls of men." Plyushkin, in rags, like a holy ascetic, recalls that he had to “catch” and collect human souls instead of useless things. "My saints!" he exclaims as the thought hits his subconscious.
Gogol tells about Plyushkin's whole life, which fundamentally distinguishes him from other landowners and brings him closer to Chichikov. His past life tragically opposed to his deplorable old age. There was a time, and he was a zealous owner, and a happy family man. His estate was exemplary, neighbors came to see and learn from the experience of the owner. He had a "friendly and talkative" wife, two lovely daughters and a son. The wife died eldest daughter ran away with a cavalry officer, the second daughter died, the son, serving in the regiment, lost at cards. Plyushkin abandoned his daughter, cursed his son, stopped receiving guests and visiting neighbors, guided by the consideration that friendship and family ties entail material costs. In the future, Gogol talks dryly and concisely about the gradual transformation of a living person into a spiritual dead man.
Plyushkin is the most terrible character in the gallery of Gogol's landowners. When creating this image, Gogol followed the path of greatest resistance - he had brilliant predecessors in the image of a miser: Molière, Pushkin, Balzac. Plyushkin is more terrible than all the eunuchs in the world, because here a soul is deliberately dead. Having drawn creepy picture moral fall, Gogol makes the reader horrified and think.
Reference material for the student:
Events develop after the victory of Russia over the troops of Napoleon in 1812. IN provincial city N collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov arrives (he is not old and not too young, not fat and not thin, rather pleasant and somewhat rounded in appearance) and settles in a hotel. He makes a lot of questions to the tavern servant - both regarding the owner and income of the tavern, and revealing its solidity: about city officials, the most significant landowners, asks about the state of the region and whether there were "what diseases in their province, epidemic fevers" and other similar adversity. Having gone on visits, the visitor discovers extraordinary activity (visiting everyone, from the governor to the inspector of the medical board) and courtesy, for he knows how to say something pleasant to everyone. About himself, he speaks somehow vaguely (that he “experienced a lot in his lifetime, endured in the service for the truth, had many enemies who even attempted on his life,” and now he is looking for a place to live). On house party with the governor, he manages to win general favor and, among other things, make acquaintance with the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. In the following days, he dined with the chief of police (where he met the landowner Nozdryov), visited the chairman of the chamber and the vice-governor, the farmer and the prosecutor, and went to the Manilov estate (which, however, was preceded by a fair author's digression, where, justified by love for detail, the author certifies in detail Petrushka, the visitor's servant: his passion for "the process of reading itself" and the ability to carry with him a special smell, "responding somewhat to residential peace"). Having traveled, against the promise, not fifteen, but all thirty miles, Chichikov finds himself in Manilovka, in the arms of an affectionate master. Manilov's house, standing on a jig, surrounded by several English-style flower beds and a gazebo with the inscription "Temple of Solitary Reflection", could characterize the owner, who was "neither this nor that", not weighed down by any passions, only unnecessarily cloying. After Manilov's confessions that Chichikov's visit was "a May day, a name day of the heart", and a dinner in the company of the hostess and two sons, Themistoclus and Alkid, Chichikov discovers the reason for his arrival: he would like to acquire peasants who have died, but have not yet been declared as such in the revision certificate, having issued everything in a legal way, as if on the living (“the law - I am dumb before the law”). The first fright and bewilderment are replaced by the perfect disposition of the kind host, and, having made a deal, Chichikov departs for Sobakevich, and Manilov indulges in dreams of Chichikov's life in the neighborhood across the river, of the construction of a bridge, of a house with such a belvedere that Moscow is visible from there, and of their friendship, having learned about which the sovereign would grant them generals. Chichikov's coachman Selifan, much favored by Manilov's yard people, in conversations with his horses misses the right turn and, at the sound of a downpour, knocks the master over into the mud. In the dark, they find lodging for the night at Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, a somewhat timid landowner, with whom Chichikov also begins to trade dead souls in the morning. Explaining that he himself would now pay taxes for them, cursing the stupidity of the old woman, promising to buy both hemp and lard, but another time, Chichikov buys souls from her for fifteen rubles, receives a detailed list of them (in which Pyotr Savelyev is especially struck by Disrespect-Trough) and, after eating an unleavened egg pie, pancakes, pies and other things, departs, leaving the hostess in great concern as to whether it was too cheap. Having driven out onto the main road to the tavern, Chichikov stops for a bite to eat, which the author provides with a lengthy discourse on the properties of the appetite of middle-class gentlemen. Here Nozdryov meets him, returning from the fair in the britzka of his son-in-law Mizhuev, for he lost everything with his horses and even the watch chain. Describing the charms of the fair, the drinking qualities of dragoon officers, a certain Kuvshinnikov, a great lover of "to use about strawberries" and, finally, presenting a puppy, "a real face", Nozdryov takes Chichikov (thinking to get hold of here too) to himself, taking away his son-in-law, who is reluctant. Describing Nozdryov, “in some respects historical man”(for wherever he was, there was no history), his possessions, the unpretentiousness of dinner with an abundance, however, drinks of dubious quality, the author sends his son-in-law to his wife (Nozdryov admonishes him with abuse and the word “fetyuk”), and Chichikov is forced to turn to your subject; but he fails to beg or buy souls: Nozdryov offers to exchange them, take them in addition to the stallion or make a bet in a card game, finally scolds, quarrels, and they part for the night. Persuasion resumes in the morning, and, having agreed to play checkers, Chichikov notices that Nozdryov is shamelessly cheating. Chichikov, whom the owner and the servants are already trying to beat, manages to escape in view of the appearance of the police captain, who announces that Nozdryov is on trial. On the road, Chichikov's carriage collides with a certain carriage, and, while the onlookers who come running are breeding tangled horses, Chichikov admires the sixteen-year-old young lady, indulges in reasoning about her and dreams of family life. A visit to Sobakevich in his strong, like himself, estate is accompanied by a thorough dinner, a discussion of city officials, who, according to the owner, are all swindlers (one prosecutor is a decent person, “and even that one, to tell the truth, is a pig”), and is crowned with an interesting guest deal. Not at all frightened by the strangeness of the object, Sobakevich bargains, characterizes the favorable qualities of each serf, supplies Chichikov detailed list and forces him to give a deposit. Chichikov's path to the neighboring landowner Plyushkin, mentioned by Sobakevich, is interrupted by a conversation with a peasant who gave Plyushkin an apt, but not too printed nickname, and the author's lyrical reflection on his former love for unfamiliar places and now appeared indifference. Plyushkin, this "hole in humanity", Chichikov at first takes for a housekeeper or a beggar, whose place is on the porch. His most important feature is his amazing stinginess, and he even carries the old sole of his boot into a heap heaped in the master's chambers. Having shown the profitability of his proposal (namely, that he would take over the taxes for the dead and runaway peasants), Chichikov fully succeeds in his enterprise and, having refused tea with cracker, provided with a letter to the chairman of the chamber, departs in the most cheerful mood. While Chichikov is sleeping in the hotel, the author reflects with sadness on the meanness of the objects he paints. Meanwhile, the satisfied Chichikov, waking up, composes the merchant's fortresses, studies the lists of the acquired peasants, reflects on their alleged fate, and finally goes to the civil chamber in order to conclude the case as soon as possible. Manilov, met at the gates of the hotel, accompanies him. Then follows a description of the public office, Chichikov's first ordeals and a bribe to a certain jug snout, until he enters the chairman's apartment, where, by the way, he also finds Sobakevich. The chairman agrees to be Plyushkin's attorney, and at the same time speeds up other transactions. The acquisition of Chichikov is discussed, with land or for withdrawal he bought peasants and in what places. Having found out that they were sent to the Kherson province, having discussed the properties of the sold peasants (here the chairman remembered that the coachman Mikheev seemed to have died, but Sobakevich assured that he was alive and “became healthier than before”), they finish with champagne, go to the police chief, “father and a philanthropist in the city” (whose habits are immediately outlined), where they drink to the health of the new Kherson landowner, become completely excited, force Chichikov to stay and attempt to marry him. Chichikov's purchases make a splash in the city, a rumor is circulating that he is a millionaire. Ladies are crazy about him. Several times trying to describe the ladies, the author becomes shy and retreats. On the eve of the governor's ball, Chichikov even receives a love letter, though unsigned. Having used, as usual, a lot of time on the toilet and being pleased with the result, Chichikov goes to the ball, where he passes from one embrace to another. The ladies, among whom he is trying to find the sender of the letter, even quarrel, challenging his attention. But when the governor's wife approaches him, he forgets everything, for she is accompanied by her daughter ("Institute, just graduated"), a sixteen-year-old blonde, whose carriage he encountered on the road. He loses the favor of the ladies, because he starts a conversation with a fascinating blonde, scandalously neglecting the rest. To complete the trouble, Nozdryov appears and loudly asks if Chichikov has bought a lot of the dead. And although Nozdryov is obviously drunk and the embarrassed society is gradually distracted, Chichikov is not given a whist or the subsequent dinner, and he leaves upset. At this time, a chariot with the landowner Korobochka enters the city, whose growing anxiety forced her to come in order to find out, nevertheless, at what price dead souls. The next morning, this news becomes the property of a certain pleasant lady, and she hurries to tell it to another, pleasant in all respects, the story is overgrown with amazing details (Chichikov, armed to the teeth, bursts into Korobochka at dead midnight, demands the souls who have died, inspires terrible fear - " the whole village has come running, the children are crying, everyone is screaming. Her friend concludes from the fact that the dead souls are only a cover, and Chichikov wants to take away the governor's daughter. After discussing the details of this enterprise, Nozdryov's undoubted participation in it and the qualities of the governor's daughter, both ladies dedicate the prosecutor to everything and set off to rebel the city. IN a short time the city is seething, to which is added the news about the appointment of a new governor-general, as well as information about the papers received: about the maker of forged banknotes, who showed up in the province, and about the robber who fled from legal persecution. Trying to understand who Chichikov is, they recall that he was certified very vaguely and even spoke about those who attempted on his life. The postmaster's statement that Chichikov, in his opinion, is Captain Kopeikin, who took up arms against the injustice of the world and became a robber, is rejected, since it follows from the entertaining postmaster's story that the captain is missing an arm and leg, and Chichikov is whole. An assumption arises whether Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise, and many begin to find a certain similarity, especially in profile. Questions from Korobochka, Manilov, and Sobakevich did not yield any results, and Nozdryov only multiplied the confusion by announcing that Chichikov was definitely a spy, a maker of forged banknotes, and had an undoubted intention to take away the governor's daughter, in which Nozdryov undertook to help him (each of the versions was accompanied by detailed details up to the name priest who took up the wedding). All these rumors have a tremendous effect on the prosecutor, he has a stroke, and he dies. Chichikov himself, sitting in the hotel with a slight cold, is surprised that none of the officials visits him. Finally, having gone on visits, he discovers that they do not receive him at the governor's, and in other places they fearfully shun him. Nozdryov, visiting him at the hotel, among the general noise he made, partly clarifies the situation by announcing that he agrees to hasten the kidnapping of the governor's daughter. The next day, Chichikov hurriedly leaves, but is stopped by a funeral procession and forced to contemplate the whole world of bureaucracy flowing behind the coffin of the prosecutor Brichka leaves the city, and the open spaces on both sides of it evoke sad and encouraging thoughts about Russia, the road, and then only sad about their chosen hero. Concluding that it is time for the virtuous hero to give rest, and, on the contrary, to hide the scoundrel, the author sets out the life story of Pavel Ivanovich, his childhood, training in classes where he already showed a practical mind, his relationship with his comrades and teacher, his service later in the state chamber, some kind of commission for the construction of a government building, where for the first time he gave vent to some of his weaknesses, his subsequent departure to other, not so profitable places, transfer to the customs service, where, showing honesty and incorruptibility almost unnatural, he made a lot of money in collusion with smugglers, went bankrupt, but dodged the criminal court, although he was forced to resign. He became a confidant, and during the fuss about the pledge of the peasants, he put together a plan in his head, began to travel around the expanses of Rus', so that, having bought dead souls and pawned them in the treasury as living, he would receive money, buy, perhaps, a village and ensure future offspring. Having again complained about the properties of his hero’s nature and partly justified him, having found him the name of “owner, acquirer”, the author is distracted by the urged running of horses, the similarity of the flying troika with rushing Russia and the ringing of the bell completes the first volume. Volume Two It opens with a description of the nature that makes up the estate of Andrei Ivanovich Tentetnikov, whom the author calls "the smoker of the sky." The story of the stupidity of his pastime is followed by the story of a life inspired by hopes at the very beginning, overshadowed by the pettiness of service and troubles afterwards; he retires, intending to improve the estate, reads books, takes care of the peasant, but without experience, sometimes just human, this does not give the expected results, the peasant is idle, Tentetnikov gives up. He breaks off acquaintances with his neighbors, offended by the treatment of General Betrishchev, stops visiting him, although he cannot forget his daughter Ulinka. In a word, without someone who would tell him an invigorating “forward!”, He completely turns sour. Chichikov comes to him, apologizing for a breakdown in the carriage, curiosity and a desire to pay respect. Having won the favor of the owner with his amazing ability to adapt to anyone, Chichikov, having lived with him for a while, goes to the general, to whom he spins a story about an absurd uncle and, as usual, begs for the dead. On the laughing general, the poem fails, and we find Chichikov heading towards Colonel Koshkarev. Against expectation, he gets to Pyotr Petrovich Petukh, whom at first he finds completely naked, carried away by the hunt for sturgeon. At the Rooster, having nothing to get hold of, for the estate is mortgaged, he only overeats terribly, gets acquainted with the bored landowner Platonov and, having incited him to travel together in Rus', goes to Konstantin Fedorovich Kotanzhoglo, married to Platonov's sister. He talks about the ways of managing, by which he increased the income from the estate dozens of times, and Chichikov is terribly inspired. Very promptly, he visits Colonel Koshkarev, who has divided his village into committees, expeditions and departments and has arranged a perfect paper production in the mortgaged estate, as it turns out. Returning, he listens to the curses of the bilious Costanjoglo to the factories and manufactories that corrupt the peasant, to the peasant's absurd desire to enlighten, and to his neighbor Khlobuev, who has run a hefty estate and is now lowering it for nothing. Having experienced tenderness and even a craving for honest work, after listening to the story of the farmer Murazov, who made forty millions in an impeccable way, Chichikov the next day, accompanied by Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, goes to Khlobuev, observes the unrest and debauchery of his household in the neighborhood of a governess for children, the fashion of a dressed wife and other traces of ridiculous luxury. Having borrowed money from Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, he gives a deposit for the estate, intending to buy it, and goes to the Platonov estate, where he meets his brother Vasily, who effectively manages the economy. Then he suddenly appears at their neighbor Lenitsyn, clearly a rogue, wins his sympathy with his skillfully tickling a child and receives dead souls. After many seizures in the manuscript, Chichikov is found already in the city at a fair, where he buys fabric of a lingonberry color so dear to him with a spark. He runs into Khlobuev, whom, apparently, he cheated, either depriving him, or almost depriving him of his inheritance by some kind of forgery. Khlobuev, who missed him, is taken away by Murazov, who convinces Khlobuev of the need to work and determines for him to raise funds for the church. Meanwhile, denunciations against Chichikov are being discovered both about forgery and about dead souls. The tailor brings a new coat. Suddenly, a gendarme appears, dragging smart Chichikov to the governor-general, "angry as anger itself." Here all his atrocities become apparent, and he, kissing the general's boot, plunges into the prison. In a dark closet, tearing his hair and coat tails, mourning the loss of a box of papers, Murazov finds Chichikov, awakens in him with simple virtuous words the desire to live honestly and goes to soften the governor general. At that time, officials who want to harm their wise superiors and receive a bribe from Chichikov deliver him a box, kidnap an important witness and write many denunciations in order to completely confuse the matter. Unrest breaks out in the province itself, greatly worrying the governor-general. However, Murazov knows how to feel the sensitive strings of his soul and give him the right advice, with which the Governor-General, having released Chichikov, is already going to use it, as "the manuscript breaks off." Overcoat The story that happened to Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin begins with a story about his birth and his bizarre name and proceeds to a story about his service as a titular adviser. Many young officials, chuckling, fix him up, shower him with papers, push him under the arm, and only when he is completely unbearable, he says: “Leave me, why are you offending me? - in a voice that bows to pity. Akaky Akakiyevich, whose job it is to copy papers, does it with love and, even coming out of his presence and having hastily sipped his own, takes out a jar of ink and copies the papers brought home, and if there are none, he purposely makes a copy for himself from some document with an intricate address. Entertainment, the pleasures of friendship do not exist for him, "having written to his heart's content, he went to bed," with a smile anticipating tomorrow's rewriting. However, this regularity of life is violated by an unforeseen incident. One morning, after repeated suggestions made by the Petersburg frost, Akaky Akakievich, having studied his overcoat (so lost in appearance that the department had long called it a bonnet), notices that it is completely transparent on the shoulders and back. He decides to carry her to the tailor Petrovich, whose habits and biography are briefly, but not without detail, outlined. Petrovich examines the hood and declares that nothing can be fixed, but a new overcoat will have to be made. Shocked by the price Petrovich had named, Akaky Akakievich decides that he has chosen a bad time, and comes when, according to calculations, Petrovich is hungover, and therefore more accommodating. But Petrovich stands his ground. Seeing that without new overcoat can not do, Akaky Akakievich is looking for how to get those eighty rubles, for which, in his opinion, Petrovich will get down to business. He decides to reduce the “ordinary costs”: not to drink tea in the evenings, not to light candles, to walk on tiptoe so as not to wear out the soles prematurely, to give the laundry to the laundry less often, and in order not to wear out, stay at home in one dressing gown. His life changes completely: the dream of an overcoat accompanies him, like a pleasant friend of life. Every month he visits Petrovich to talk about the overcoat. The expected reward for the holiday, against expectations, turns out to be twenty rubles more, and one day Akaky Akakievich and Petrovich go to the shops. And the cloth, and the calico on the lining, and the cat on the collar, and the work of Petrovich - everything turns out to be beyond praise, and, in view of the beginning of frost, Akaki Akakievich one day goes to the department in a new overcoat. This event does not go unnoticed, everyone praises the overcoat and demands that Akaky Akakievich set the evening on such an occasion, and only the intervention of a certain official (as if on purpose a birthday man), who called everyone for tea, saves the embarrassed Akaki Akakievich. After a day that was definitely big for him solemn holiday , Akaky Akakiyevich returns home, has a merry dinner and, after having a sybaritic idleness, goes to the official in the far part of the city. Again everyone praises his overcoat, but soon they turn to whist, dinner, champagne. Forced to do the same, Akaky Akakievich feels unusual joy, but, mindful of the late hour, slowly goes home. Excited at first, he even rushes after some lady (“whose every part of her body was full of unusual movement”), but the deserted streets that soon stretch out inspire him with involuntary fear. In the middle of a huge deserted square, some people with mustaches stop him and take off his overcoat. The misadventures of Akaky Akakievich begin. He does not find help from a private bailiff. In the presence, where he comes a day later in his old hood, they pity him and even think of making a clubbing, but, having collected a mere trifle, they give advice to go to a significant person, which can contribute to a more successful search for an overcoat. The following describes the methods and customs of a significant person who has become significant only recently, and therefore preoccupied with how to give himself greater significance: "Strictness, severity and - severity," he usually used to say. Wanting to impress his friend, whom he had not seen for many years, he cruelly scolds Akaky Akakievich, who, in his opinion, addressed him out of form. Not feeling his legs, he gets to the house and falls down with a strong fever. A few days of unconsciousness and delirium - and Akaky Akakievich dies, about which they learn in the department only on the fourth day after the funeral. Soon it becomes known that at night near the Kalinkin bridge a dead man appears, ripping off everyone's overcoat, without disassembling the rank and rank. Someone recognizes Akaki Akakievich in him. The efforts made by the police to catch the dead man are in vain. At that time, one significant person, who is not alien to compassion, having learned that Bashmachkin died suddenly, remains terribly shocked by this and, in order to have some fun, goes to a friendly party, from where he goes not home, but to the familiar lady Karolina Ivanovna, and, in the midst of terrible weather, he suddenly feels that someone has grabbed him by the collar. In horror, he recognizes Akaky Akakievich, who triumphantly pulls off his overcoat. Pale and frightened, a significant person returns home and no longer scolds his subordinates with severity. The appearance of the dead official has since completely ceased, and the ghost that met a little later the Kolomna guard was already much taller and wore an enormous mustache.
Reference material for students:
Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich is a representative of the galaxy of the most outstanding and honored writers of Russia.
Years of life: 1809-1852.
The most famous works and works:
Dead Souls
Auditor
Marriage
Theatrical tour
Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka
Mirgorod
Viy
The story of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich
old world landowners
Taras Bulba
Petersburg stories
Nevsky Avenue
Nose
Overcoat
Diary of a Madman
Portrait
Stroller.
